Stop demonising diesel, demands boss of Jaguar

THE head of Britain’s biggest car maker has hit back at green campaigners for ‘demonising diesel’.

Jaguar Land Rover managing director Jeremy Hicks said motorists were being frightened off buying diesel cars by the threat of bans and extra charges.

There is a growing backlash against the fuel, which powers four in ten British cars, as evidence mounts that it produces pollutants which damage health.

However, Mr Hicks said critics were too often ‘identifying the wrong villains’ by criticising modern, clean diesel vehicles and ignoring buses, taxis and trucks.

‘The impression is being given that the way to improve air quality in our cities is simply to ban diesel cars from entering them,’ he said. ‘It is not that simple.’

He added that modern diesel cars were ‘comparable’ with petrol cars in terms of dangerous emissions, adding that the row threatened to derail efforts to produce environmentally friendly cars.

‘It would be truly tragic for our environment ... if these developments were delayed because of the negative impact a mishandled, misinformed diesel debate had on our industry,’ he said.